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VINDICATION OF THE POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRZ ^lON. 



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SPEECH 



OF 



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OF KANSAS, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

FEBRUARY 16, 1864, 

ON THE SPECIAL ORDER, BEING SENATE BILL No. 45, 

TO SET APART A PORTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS 

FOR THE USE OF PERSONS OF AFRICAN DESCENT. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
GIBSON BROTHERS, PRINTERS. 

1864. 



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VINDICATION OF THE POLICY OP THE ADMINISTRATION. 



SPEECH 



OF KANSAS, 

IN THE 

SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, February 16, 1864, 

ON THE SPECIAL ORDER, BEING SENATE BILL NO. 45, 

TO SET APART A PORTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS FOR THE USE OF PERSONS 

OF AFRICAN DESCENT. 



Mr. President : The present war of slavery against freedom, 
first opened upon the plains of a State which I have the honor in 
part to represent ; there the black flag of piracy was first dis- 
played ; for years the relentless war of despotism against liberty 
was waged with varied success, in disregard of the rules of civi- 
lized warfare. As an American, I must say with profound humility 
and shame for my country, this unnatural and malignant war had 
the support of two administrations, which expended influence and 
treasure without stint, to corrupt the young settlements therein, 
and to fasten the corroding leprosy of this baleful institution on a 
free and independent people. In that contest against venial offi- 
cials and a corrupt institution, we learned that slavery was " the 
sum of all villainies." And it was then we learned that the 
colored man possessed the qualities of the soldier. 

Guided by this experience, and the knowledge thus obtained, 
immediately on the fall of Sumter I commenced urging in public 
speeches and writings the necessity of an emancipation proclamation , 
and the arming of the blacks. I commenced this work as a poineer 
confident that the public sentiment of the country would finally 
endorse the proposition . Even at that early hour in my intercourse 
with the President of the United States, I found him anxiously 
weighing the grave necessities I was urging, and with mind and 
will self-poised, ready to hurl these reserved forces on the rebel- 
lion, at the juncture when public sentiment in the loyal States 
would sustain the act ; for it must not be forgotten that such stu- 



4 

pendniis irieasiires required a political and moral preparation in the 
])ul)]ic mind to justify such strides in tlie advance, else the whole 
fabric of northern society might have been shaken by a counter 
revolution. Their adoption required in advance the education of 
the loyal people of the fi^e States to the necessity and wisdom of 
such measures. For generations the public mind had been taught 
to regard slavery as a thing sacred to the several States holding 
slaves ; a thing too sacred to be critici-sed or touched by the 
stranger, while behind this blind of sacred right the traitor 
plotted his treason at his leisure, ])lanncd his schemes of rebellion, 
nni] hatched the political brood of vipers who have at last* fastened 
on the fair foi m of oiir republic, trusting, by their devilish skill 
aiiil power, to strangle and slay the fairest .form of civil govern- 
ment tlie world lias yet seen.- It was, theref'o]-e, no mean task to 
er.idicate the teachings of many years, and bring the public mind 
up to t!ie safe condition of support to measures such as proposed 
in the proclamations of emancipation, and arming the men of color 
iu aid of those measures. 

Here, in this city, in April, 1861, after delivering a speech in 
favor of those two pi'opositions, I was notified by many friends if 
1 insisted upon it it would crush our party, and was warned that 
my life was in danger from the knife of the assassin. Even in 
my own State I was obliged to keep from public view, for months, 
tlie first colored troops we raised therein. And I here express 
the opinion that had either of these measures been adopted at that 
date, a counter revolution would have been inaugurated in the 
house of our own friends. It is well known to the truly able 
Senator from Ohio, that when the proclamations were issued they 
came near throwing into the hands of the opponents of the Gov- 
ernment the political power of the country, which at that date 
would have been equal to the withdrawal of our armies from the 
field, the triumph of the rebellion, the overthrow of liberty, the 
disgrace and ruin of her defenders, while the hopes and liberal 
aspirations of earth's crushed millions Avould have been extin- 
guished for generations to come, for the courts of Europe would 
have acknowledged the Confederacy, and rejoiced in the decline of 
pure republicanism. 

In my opinion, when the history of this Administration comes 
to be written, the proudest page therein will be the record of the 
fact that Mr. Lincoln had the self-possession, the wisdom, and 
sagacity to restrain himself and friends from issuing the emanci- 
pation proclamations and arming the blacks until public sentiment 
was well nigh ripe to sustain him. To have acted thus before the 
22d of September, would have been to have acted too soon. It 
would have imperilled the political power of the Government, a 
matter we could not aiford to loose then any more than now. 

From the establishment of this r.ation to the present time, the 
Hand of an all-wise Providence has been seen in directing our 
destinies. In doing this He has always furnished proper instru- 



.fJS 



ments. In founding the country He put forward a man of singular 
ability in mind and body, a type of the aristocratic age, to lead 
our armies and direct our deliberations. In this, the second great 
struggle for life and liberty, lio has raised up in the economy of 
His Providence a type of the republican age, a man of the people, 
uniting prudence and firmness, wisdom and simplicity, integrity 
and sagacity, generosity and elasticity of spirit, in a singular 
degree, with that practical knowledge of men and things which 
places him, head and shoulders, above his peers for all the pur- 
poses of government. In the midst of such a storm, with him as 
the pilot, the ship of state has thus far passed through the break- 
ers which have threatened her on either hand ; and posterity will 
admit to his honor that the most dangerous acts, and yet the most 
beneficent of his Administration, were the acts of September 22, 
1862, and Janua^ry 1, 1863. 

The proclamations of these dates are not valuable because they 
freed the slaves at -'the time of their issue! They did no such 
thing. They reached no slaves within the lines of the enemy ; 
and all the slaves of disloyal masters, who were within our lines, 
were free under the law. The country Avas complaining for lack 
of a policy, and none were more loud in their complaints than the 
Senator from Ohio. The proclamations were intended to supply 
that want of the country — a policy. By following this policy we 
know that this fearful, wasting struggle, will result in a perma- 
nent peace, to us, and those who come after us ; that the cause 
of the rebellion is to be forever removed from the land, so that, 
on the close of the war, or soon after, the stars and stripes shall 
float over the heads of none but freemen. 

The proclamations of Fremofit and Hunter amounted to noth- 
ing, except as indications of tlic course o!" p;il>lic sentiment 
and tlie rapid ripening of opinion. Had they not been modified 
they would have been inoperative in freeing the :d:jvo. As a mat- 
ter of, course they furnished no general policy : tlicy were but 
unauthorized efforts to do out of ])lace and time what their supc-. 
riors were carefully matui'ing and preparing to <lo at the proper 
time. Let it not be forgotten that Mr. Lincoln ha^! !ad two great 
bodies of loyal men to carry with him in all his war measures — 
the party that elected him, and that which sup{)v)tted Julge 
Douglass and Messrs. Bell and Everett. The first ha.; clamored 
for action in the direction of the most radical measurer.. This I 
know, for 1 have aided to swell that cry. The latter, lollowing 
reluctantly at first, actuated, not by party zeal, but from a love 
of country and liberty, have iollowed Mr. Lincoln's lea.l when 
he has not gone too fast; and his wisdom and prudence liave 
been shown in not breaking with them by going too fast, but 
in carrying them along with him and his measures. 

The policy controlling the conduct of the war has been an- 
nounced in the several proclamations of the President, and has 
been accepted by the loyal men of the country, together with that 



much-dreaded measure— the arming of the blacks. This policy is 
being pressed forward with vigor and^ energy ; and surely it is 
higli tihie to arm our blacks in the defence of republican liberty 
when the chief Imperialist of Europe has dared to export from 
Egypt Ethiopian soldiers, and plant them on our southern bor- 
ders, to aid him in his contest with the republicans of Mexico. 
Such a step, by such a man, is a note of warning to the people pf 
this country, calling for prudential measures, yet measures in 
liarmony with international peace. This is a time for careful and 
profound reflection on the movements of the armed millions that 
now crowd earth's surface, and our prayer to Almighty God is 
that no more such come this way, while duty requires us to arm^ 
to the teeth all who are capable of bearing arms in the defence of 
liberty and right. 

Another step remains to be taken under the wise and beneficent 
policy of the Administration. The colored man is to be freed. 
To place this beyond question or doubt we snust guard against 
his being re-enslaved upon the reconstruction of the Union. This 
can only be done by an amendment of the Constitution, " declar- 
ing that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for 
crime, shall be permitted in the land." 

The black man freed, and his re-enslavement rendered impos- 
sible by fundamental law, then comes the last step in the pro- 
gramme to answer safely, correctly, and forever, the question : 
What is olir duty as legislators legislating for posterity? What is 
our duty toward this disfranchised race ? Uneducated, depend- 
ent, they look to us as helpless infancy, requiring direction, pro- 
tection, and to a great extent subsistence, and at this time instruc- 
tion how to obtain it. Emancipation leaves them in the midst 
of unfriendly influences, and an unfriendly people, who, being 
forced to accept the emancijoation of their slaves, will by all 
means in their power seek to undo what you and your armies 
have done. It is proposed by some to settle them down on the 
old estates of tlie South ; this in view of the well-knovv^n temper 
of the Southern masses, is of doubtful propriety, and will, in my 
opinion, result in a second civil commotion in the course of a few 
generations ; nor will justice to the black man permit us to hide 
from our eyes the fact that his quiet requires removal from the 
scene of his former servitude and degradation. I cannot do better 
than recite here the sentiment of the report of the committee on 
this bill — that the nation should make a reasonable eftbrt to se- 
cure for the millions of freed men proper homes in a habitable and 
desirable country on our south-western border, where climate and 
country will be congenial to the wants of our people of color, and 
where, by acquiring an undisputed title to the soil, and an inde- 
pendent local organization, they may enjoy the privileges of re- 
publican civilization, and there concentrate their whole strength 
for mutual improvement. 

In exercising our judgment as legislators without prejudice or 



jsC 



passion, and regarding the best interests of both races, we are free 
to say, that it appears good policy for us to concentrate, by every 
prudent means consistent with their free choice, the barge mass of 
our freed men in the country named in this bill. 

By this act we solve the question, What shall be done withthe 
negro ? which has troubled the dreams of anti-emancipationists, 
and, I have no doubt, actually retarded the work of emancipation 
heretofore. 

The Territorial Committee very properly have declared that 
a strong desire for a title to the soil is a marked characteristic of 
the people of our country ; and it is reasonable that the man of 
color should partake of this feeling. We presume that it will not 
be disputed that a quiet title thereto is indispensable to the proper 
development and improvement of any country, whether in posses- 
sion of whites or blacks ; and that an unsettled title is the worst 
form of agitation that can afflict any family or race in time of 
peace— a condition to be deprecated, to be avoided. Wisely your 
committee express the fear that this will be the fate and future 
of the freed men if they remain in the older States once slave, for 
the majority race, by the aid of courts and laws, will keep their 
rights and interests unsettled in each of those States, unless by 
fundamental enactment the Government of those States should be 
placed in the hands of colored men. This would be impossible if 
attempted, hence the immediate wants of the country, as well as 
common equity, impose upon the Government in its attempts to 
quiet the disturbed social structure of the South, the necessity of 
founding a community, where the men of color will be the ma- 
jority race, possessing undisputed sovereignty over their own af- 
fairs, and all the rights which spring from eminent domain. 

Observation and experience teach us that the black nian cannot 
hold his ground against the grasping cupidity of the white so long 
as the theatre of competition is confined to northern latitudes. 
Experience further teaches that the man of color is safe from the 
cupidity of the white man when the tropical climate becomes his 
ally and protection . When he has reached the point of the tropical 
or semi-tropical lands, the vigor of his constitution makes him lord 
of the soil, so that the destiny of the whole tropical belt, in our 
opinion, is to p.ass under the future empire of the educated and 
civilized children of our freed men. 

Mr. President, with these convictions, it appears to me expedient 
that we make an earnest effort to secure a country of sufficient 
capacity for the accomodation of four millions of persons, should 
so many wish to go thereto ; for be it understood that we leave to 
all the right of choice to go, or stay in the older States ; yet, while 
doing, this, we cannot refrain from expressing the conviction m the 
most formal and solemn manner that it is the duty of the man of 
color to remove with his family and efi'ects to the land indicated 
in this bill, and to induce his people to accompany liim, having in 
his mind the noble purpose to concentrate his race in that locality 



8 

with the view of gaining the support, protection, and power that 
niimhers will afford. 

While we admit that there is now a large measure of sympathy 
for the colored race developed in the public mind by the antago- 
nism of this war, and the struggles over him and his interests 
between the contending sections of the white race, yet on the close 
of the war, when human passions return to their former course, 
the anger of the white man is stilled, the passions and affections 
involved by this armed antagonism sink to repose, and the public 
mind returns to the various channels of business, commerce, and 
self-interest, the known cupidity of our race will again assert its 
sway and hold in abeyance the now well developed sympathy for 
the colored man produced by this rebellion. Especially will this 
be true in the States once slave, for there the white population will 
regard the negro as an enemy and treat him accordingly. 

Can we expect the white man to be less selfish toward the 
man of color than he is toward his own race — look at the conduct 
of your own people toward one another ; do not oppression, fraud 
and wrong curse the land ; are not the weak and unprotected 
borne down ; will the man who tramples in the dust the rights of 
his own kindred and race be less exacting, less oppressive with 
the man or race of men to whom he is disposed to credit much of 
the disquiet of his country? The supposition is preposterous. 
Let us then form our own judgment by the heartlessness of the 
general mass of our people, and not by the philanthrophy of the 
few ; for, in my opinion, what has been the history of the two 
races in the past will be their history, to a great extent, in the 
future, if they remain associated in this country as majority and 
minority races. 

This question, sir, after all, is a question of majorities — to re- 
main such through all coming time; for the prejudice, unfortunate 
as it may appear to some, which the white race entertains to a 
legal and honorable amalgation of the African with the people 
of this country, will preserve a dividing line between them as 
long as the world stands ; nor should Senators hide from their 
eyes the fact, that without this legal and honorable admixture of 
the African blood with that of our race the former can attain to 
neither social nor political equality. I give it here, as my opinion, 
that the individual politician, or political party, that comes before 
the country on the platform of amalgamation, either expressed or 
implied, Avill be crushed as by an avalanche. Then the freedom 
we achieve for them is not such freedom as their long-suffering, 
their universal loyalty and important services in tliis rebellion 
demand at our hands. 

With this social and political inequality, is it to be expected 
that they can develop to that point to which they are capable? 
Is it for us to leave such a mass of disfranchised labor to the 
caprice and cupidity of the capitalists of the ruling race, many 
of whom are as heartless as the slave-master. To leave such an 



Sf -7 
tJ J 



element in our social structure is to present the strong temptation 
to introduce an aristocracy as dangerous to our republican form 
of government as that we are now struggling to subdue. 

Unless you can assure them social and political equality, I sub- 
rait that it is a duty we owe ourselves and our children after us, 
to separate them from us, and place them in a position to govern 
and care for themselves. Give them a country of their own ; 
give them homes ; actual title to the soil ; give them the rights 
and franchises springing from the actual dominion of the country 
where they reside. Exercise over them for the time being a ter- 
ritorial government, selecting officers whose every pulsation will be 
in sympathy with them. Thrown upon their own resources, thus 
educated and elevated, by having a country they can claim as their 
own, all the circumstances reminding them of their sLavery and 
degradation being absent, they, in my opinion, would soon 
demonstrate to the world capacity for self-improvement and self- 
government that will exceed the most sanguine expectations of 
their friends. 

My second reason is, we can thus plant at the door of Mexico, 
which is a semi-tropical country, four millions of good citizens, 
who can step in at any time, when invited to strengthen the 
hands of that republic. 

The place of the black man in the older States will soon be 
filled up by foreign immigrants, who, in filling the vacuum^ will 
give no shock to the sensibilities of a kindred race, or endanger 
the future peace of the country in the process of naturalization, 
which will incorporate them into the mass of our people without 
reducing tlie blood or changing the mutual status. In this way 
do we avoid all the disastrous consequences which must follow 
from that repugnance to legal amalgamation with the African 
almost universal among the people of the North and Northwest. 
Therefore policy of the highest order requires that we establish on 
our southern border an independent, self-sustaining and self-re- 
liant people, loving liberty, and ready to protect it, Avhose 
first elfort to illustrate the principles they have derived from us 
may perchance be a combination to expel the imperial eagles 
from lands once consecrated to republican liberty. 

Shall we extend to colored men the opportunity of voluntarily 
separating from us? That conceded, all obstacles to this humane 
design at once vanish. I do not propose to remove them at the 
expense of the Government. They must go as other emigrants 
do, at their own expense. The sum required for the journey can 
easily be brought within the-limits of their resources. 

First of all, therefore, the land of their destination, their land of 
promise,. I think I may say, must be easy of access. They should be 
able to move there, as did many of our ancestors when seeking 
their western homes, in wagons, overland, taking their Avives and 
children, their household furniture and their agricultural imple- 
ments with them. The country should be adjacent to the 



10 

sea coast and traversed by navigable streams, so that colonies or 
companies may be able to reach it in a body, should emigration 
in large numbers be desirable. 

Such a location, Mr, President, is the country selected by the 
provisions of this bill. It is bounded upon the south by the Gulf 
of Mexico, on the east by the Colorado Kiver, on the west by the 
Rio Grande, on the north by almost impassable mountains, 
securing them from the inroads of hostile Indians. Through Kan- 
sas, or southwestern Missouri and the Indian country, it can be 
reached over the best natural roads in the world ; through friendly 
and sympathizing communities. From Louisiana the way is 
direct by the Red River or the Gulf. In respect to location no 
territory on the face of the globe is more desirable for the habita- 
tion of the black man. 

Now permit me for a moment to refer to the resources of this 
section and its natural adaptation to the requirements of the 
colored man. First and foremost the climate is congenial to his 
nature. The soilis universally arable, and produces bountifully 
with moderate cultivation. The surface is fine, deep prairie, yet 
supplied with timber adequate to the wants of the settler, present- 
ing no obstacle to the opening up of farms. Such is the dwelling 
place to which your committee desire to invite the emancipated 
colored man. It is believed that the President of the United States, 
were he authorized, could, by proper exertion on his part, obtain 
title to the greater portion of this territory on the most reasonable 
terms. 

In this connection I call the attention of the Senate to the fol- 
lowing extracts from Brannan's Texas, 1857, page 22, which the 
Committee on Territories have appended to their report on this 
bill : 

"I have, for convenience, divided the State by certain arbitrary designations, as fol- 
lows, namely : northern counties, western counties, &c. 

" Western Texas is an extensive country, and has many varieties of soil and produc- 
tions. Excepting on the bottom-lands of the rivers and Avater-courses, the people are 
mostly engaged in stock-raising, many of them exclusively, and others in connection 
with tarming. The region below 30° and west of the Rio Grande is very subject to long 
droughts during the summer ; still the crops ou the bottom-land seldom tail, no portion 
is sickly, but all is favorable to man and beast. The jjrincipal grass on the prairies is the 
far-famed mesquit, deservedly renowned for its universal abundance and nutritious quali- 
ties. During all the winter season, and after it has become sere and yellow, cattle and 
horses will cat it with the same avidity and benefit as when green. Of late years large 
quantities have been cured and baled for distant markets. I would advise emigrants who 
want good, cheap lands, with plenty of mesquit prairie for stock range, to p'lirchase on 
the Nueces, Rio Frio, or some of their branches. This is a desirable part of western 
lexas, and has as many natural advantages as can be asked by .any reasonable man. 
Land sells from Si 50 to S2 per acre. The timber on the streams is' pecan, hackberry, 
several kinds of oak, and mulberry ; on the prairies are much live-oak and mesquit 
timber. There are many other portions of the West where the land is better adapted for 
raising cotton, but none that will so well suit the emigrant of moder.ate capital, and fill 
the measure, of his utmost expectations and desires." 

Of the upper portion of this Territory Cordova says, page 49 : 

"The valley of the Rio Grande is in the vicinity of 32° north latitude, and for one 
hundred miles is capable of sustaining a large and prosperous population. It grows fine 
wheat, corn, fruits, and a variety of vegetables, all of the best quality, and is proverbial 



11 

for producing excellent grapes, from -which a native wine of very good quality is made. 
There are between fifteen and twenty thousand American's and Mexicans already in the 
neighborhood of El Paso, and the valley is highly cultivated for many miles, beautiful 
gardens, with fine apricots, peaches, plums, and various other fruits, abounding." 

• In Moore's Description of Texas^ P^-ge 8, lie says : 

" In the western countries the prairies are beautifully diversified with small groves of 
timber; most of the prairies of this level region, however, are entirely open, and resemble 
broad, grassy lakes. The soil of the prairies is remarkably uniform in its character 
throughout the whole country, consisting generally of a black vegetable mold, varying 
from four inches to four feet in depth, resting on beds of sandy or clayey loam. This 
soil differs but little in fertility from the soil of the bottom-lands, and is covered with a 
dense mass of grass, affording an inexhaustible supply of pasturage to the cattle of the 
southern planters. There is probably no class of men upon the globe who can live more 
independently or Avith less care than the herdsmen of Texas. Their herds of cattle feed 
out upon the prairies or in ihe wooded bottoms during the whole year, and require almost 
as little attention as the wild deer." * * * * * * 

" Many of the Texan farmers own several thousand head of cattle, and derive from them 
a very large income.'' 

Again, on page 13, he says : 

" The ordinary crop of cotton in the level and undulating regions is from a bale to a 
bale and a half to the acre ; of maize, from forty to sixty bushels ; of potatoes, from four 
to eight hundred bushels. Two crops of maize and potatoes are frequently raised the 
same year ; both the common potato and yam, or sweet potato thrive well." * * * 
"The few attempts that have been made to cultivate sugar, tobacco, and silk, prove that 
these productions can be raised with great facility, and will, within a short period, be- 
come the staples of the country. It is found that the sugar-cane attains a larger size in 
Texas than in Louisiana ; and, as the climate is milder, a larger portion of the plant 
matures ; consequently the product of sugar to the acre is considerably greater in the 
former country." 

Some of US, were it possible, would be glad to set aside South 
Carolina or Florida, as the future home of the colored man. I 
have frequently gone so far, myself, as to say that I hoped the 
time would come when the foot print of the white man should not 
be found on the soil of South Carolina. But to-day, we are de- 
liberating for the good of the colored man and the peace of future 
generations. I think we can afford under present circumstances 
to sacrifice all feeling to such a noble end. 

We may slay all the male traitors of South Carolina, and yet, 
at the close of the rebellion, to their wives and children, being in 
occupation and holding the fee of the land, amnesty and pardon 
must necessarily extend. If we should succeed in settling the 
black man upon some portion of those States he would be perse- 
cuted and oppressed so that his life would be a burden to himself, 
and his title to his home held by an uncertain.tenure. It is a well 
founded presumption that the slave holder and the members of his 
family will always hate the person who has been released from 
their service against their consent, and will continue to persecute 
him to the latest generation. 

It is not possible to re-educate a whole population like that of 
the South, or change their prejudices as to their former slaves. 
The idea of depopulating an entire State to make a place for new 
inhabitants is not likely to gain much favor. It is a question of 
morality whether it should be done. 

The same objections -would hold in respect to Florida as to South 



12 

Carolina. In addition^its unsettled sections are densely wooded, 
and a large proportion of the territory is waste, untillable 
land. The opening up of a farm would he a work of time and 
money. What we need for the immediate necessities of this people 
is a locality that will come as near yielding a spontaneous support 
as can he obtained, and especially one where the herds of stock 
may support themselves all winter by grazing, as well as during 
the summer months. In Florida, settlements would be widely 
separated from necessity, but on the territory of the Rio Grande 
they would be compact. In South Carolina, Florida, and the 
States once slave, the colored people would be among those who 
would despise them. On the territory of the Eio Grande they 
would have friendly Indians upon the north-east, and on the east 
Texas, which consulted, and consenting in the settlement, would 
become their friend and protector. On the Avest Mexico, whose 
inhabitants would give the colored man a friendly welcome, asso- 
ciate with him as an equal, and if he desired it, would grant him 
the privilege of citizenship. There would be marrying and giving 
in marriage. The institution of matrimony would be honored and 
respected among them. The blur of illegitimacy would be forever 
wiped away from their posterity. This people would stand before 
the world a respected community and an honored commonwealth. 

Neither South Carolina nor Florida are adapted to grazing, 
while the territory of the Rio Grande is eminently so. If 1 may 
be allowed the expression, I would call it the elysium of stock. 
If you had seen, as I have, during the months I was stationed 
there, the immense droves of cattle, horses, and sheep subsisting 
throughout the whole year, troubling the owner no more than 
the wild deer, you would acknowledge that my statements are 
unexaggerated. 

The subject of expense has been mooted by the distinguished Sen- 
ator from Masachusetts. I respectfully submit to him and to the 
Senate what detriment is likely to follow to the public treasury from 
vesting in the Government a title to land, the only claimants to large 
bodies of which will be traitors. In doing this great act of justice 
to the colored man the question of expense should not be raised. 
But in my opinion, Mr. President, the policy proposed, if adopted 
promptly and heartily, will, instead of a public burden, prove 
highly remunerative to the country. In a few years this territory 
of the Rio Grande would far outstrip any State in this nation in 
the production of sugar, cotton, rice, the cereals, and the herds 
of stock. A country teeming with such an abundance of the prime 
essentials to human sustenance would soon refund any amount 
paid by the Government. 

The chief portion of the expense of emigration must be paid by 
the colored man himself. And what greater incentive to industry 
and_ economy can he have than the prospect of a removal to a 
section, which seems to me especially designed by nature for his 
country and his home. If properly encouraged by the people and 



IS 

by Congress he will not ask the hand of public or private charity to 
pay the cost of his transportation thither. From the clay the 
well-assured hope of such a destination is held out to him will 
date those stimulating efforts at elevation and culture which must 
precede the independence of his race. 

The last section of the bill under consideration provides i'or 
placing the great work in the hands of the Commissioner of Emi- 
gration. This gentleman has been engaged upon the subject 
for fifteen or twenty years, laboring assiduously, and I believe 
with considerable success, in moulding public opinion to the 
absolute necessity of a separation of the two races. lie is a man of 
ability, of integrity, a Christian whose sympathies are with the 
race pro})osed to be benefited by the bill. In my opinion, no one 
can be found to whom the important duty may be more safely 
intrusted. 

This bill also provides for diverting the funds already appro- 
priated for colonization purposes abroad to the present object. 
That fund was originally six hundred thousand dollars. But 
little of it has been expended. It is believed that this amount 
will be ample to carry out the provisions of this bill. 

We devote immense tracts of land and millions of money to a 
few thousand savages, who are not producers in any sense, but 
consumers of the nation's wealth. It is true they have a claim 
on us as the original owners of the country; but have the negroes 
no claim? Have not they and their fathers for centuries toiled to 
build up our country and our country's wealth without pay or 
reward? I trust the Senate will now admit this claim, and per- 
mit us to pay, by this poor boon, a debt which has accumulated 
through generations past. 

The country set apart by the provisions of the bill is to furnish 
homes to four millions of civilized beings, who, in a few years, will 
become extensive producers, and I here venture to repeat the as- 
sertion which I have made heretofore, that the territory of the Rio 
Grande, settled as proposed, will, in a few years, outstrip, in the 
production of cotton and sugar, any of the old States, and will 
amply remunerate us for any present outlay. 

By the theory of the bill, the removal of our colored people must 
needs be slow, as the movement into their own country would be 
at their own control. As they thus gradually withdraw, on the 
close of the war and the establishment of peace, their places v^'ill 
be surely supplied by the numerous immigrants from foreign lands 
crowding in almost countless millions to our shores, and thus the 
much dreaded shock to the labor market and the business of the 
country Avill be avoided. I wish this point to engage the attention 
of the Senate. During the last decade the increase of our pop- 
ulation by foreign immigration alone has been 2,707,624 persons, 
mostly in the j)rime of life, and largely of the class that sup- 
plies our labor, and it is confidently believed that this amount 
will be trebled during the decade we are now in. Nor would I be 



u 

surprised to see that number exceeded on the rendering of the 
next census. It is likewise known to you that when our army 
comes to be disbanded, a sudden and excessive supply of labor 
will be thrown upon the country, more than will be necessary to 
fill up the vacuum cr^eated by the migration of the blacks. 

Such are the provisions of the bill and the policy it foreshadows. 
The success of that policy of course depends npon the crushing 
out of the rebellion, which we trust will soon be accomplished. 

I have no doubt about the advantages that will accrue to the 
political party to which I belong, should it pass. It must occur 
to the mind of every Senator that it will remove, at one stroke, 
one of the irritating elements which at times has distracted our 
own party and given political power to our opponents. 

I have a higher opinion of the capabilities of the African race 
than most of my countrymen. Their servile relation has caused 
us to underrate and undervalue them as a general rule ; but what 
are the facts ? They are faithful, confiding, affectionate, indus- 
trious, given to neatness, and generally religious, eminently 
domestic in their habits, and strongly attached to their home. 
These qualities are sufficient guarantees that when admitted to 
rights of landholders and rulers in that land, they have adhesive- 
ness enough to form a community of j)ower, and ambition enough 
to secure for that community the polish of a high civilization. 
Extend to them that substantial freedom toSvhich they are so 
justly entitled; grant them power; the privilege of selecting their 
own rulers ; of framing their own laws, and I venture the opi- 
nion that the day will soon come when we will be proud of our 
proteges. 

Reared in the Democratic school, I was taught to revere the 
memory and respect the opinions of Mr. Jeiferson on this im- 
portant subject, which employed much of the most serious reflec- 
tions of that profound statesman. He says, in the first volume 
of his writings, p. 49 : 

"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than 
that these people are to be free ; nor is it less certain that the two 
races, equally free, cannot live in the same Government. Nature, 
habit, opinion, have drawn indelible lines of distinction between 
them. It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipa- 
tion and deportation, peaceably, and in slow degree, as that evil 
will wear off insensibly, and their place be pari passu filled up 
by free white labor." 

Time has exploded his deportation plan. We have neither the 
ability nor inclination to adopt it. I have endorsed his position, 
that the two races cannot live equally free in the same State, but 
have failed to discover why we cannot give them the same freedom 
we ourselves enjoy under the national Government, through a 
territorial organization, in a territory where they constitute the 
majority, leaving the question of admission to a higher position 
therein to time and to those who come after us. 



15 

The last census shows that, at the commencement of the rebel- 
lion, there were in the State of Missouri 114,931 slaves ^n Ar- 
kansas, 111,115 ; in Louisiana, 331,726 ; and in Texas, iw^,.>(j(j, 
making, in the aggregate, 740,338. 

It is safe to say that one-tenth of the slaves of Missouri, six-tenths 
of those of Louisiana, three-fourths of those of Arkansas, and all 
those of Texas, reinforced by at least one hundred thousand who 
have been transferred to the west side of the river from Mississi|)})i 
andtheother States, making in all about 600,000, are nowinEastern 
Texas, and will at once, with but little expense to themselves or 
trouble to us, seek the new Jerusalem. 

The foundations for the contemplated community may be laid 
deep and strong by a single order issued in just nineteen words, 
viz.: "Withdraw the white troops from Western Texas, and 
supply their places by colored regiments, giving transportation 
to their families." 

It was demonstrated by the discussion last Saturday that the 
families of these soldiers are self-sustaining. They can select 
land, open up farms, while their husbands and fathers are fight- 
ing your battles and their own. The pay of the soldier will aid 
them in this praiseworthy effort for independence. 

At the close of the war, we should adopt the same policy in 
mustering out of the service our gallant regiments as was follow- 
ed at the close of the war with Mexico, in respect to the troops in 
California. Muster out the colored regiments West of the Colorado 
if they desire it, allowing them transportation pay to the place 
of enrollment. This method, allowing half of them to be men of 
family, with four to a family, would give five hundred thousand 
settlers. 

If I could direct the jjolicy of the Government, I would tender 
homes to the colored soldiers West of the Colorado, and to the 
white soldiers the confiscated estates of traitors east of that line, 
mustering them out at such points contiguous to their contempla- 
ted homes as they might designate. What greater incentive to 
fidelity to the interests of their country could be placed before 
them. 

My sanguine temperament may mislead me, but I am clear in 
the conviction that as soon as this settlement is a fixed fact the 
colored race from Canada to the Gulf will be attracted to it. 
Every avenue to it will soon be crowded by emigrants hastening 
thither in every kind of vehicle from a wheelbarrow to a mail 
coach. 

Should the Senate adopt this bill, I can tell the man of color 
that the hour of his deliverance from the bondage of Egypt has 
come, and that unless he removes he is doomed to sink into a 
hopeless minority in the older States for all coming time. The 
last census tells the story of his future. 

The increase of population to this country by foreign immigration 
alone exceeds the increase of the slave and free people of color in 



16 

the same period nearly three to one ; that of the former being 
2,70^ "24, and that of the latter but 796,947. 

lo.. can infer from this the chances of changing the relation 
of the races by force of numbers. We must ever remain the ma- 
jority race, and consequently the rulers ; they the minority race, 
with no hope of relief in the older States. The colored man must 
change his latitute to hold his ground. Wisdom, policy, and a 
military necessity suggest that he change it at once. 

I submit the bill, confident that the importance of its provisions 
will challenge the serious attention of every Senator. Our gallant 
army in the field, with the proclamations of the President and 
laws in aid thereof, insures freedom to the slave, while the pro- 
posed amendment to the Constitution which will no doubt be 
passed by this Congress and sanctioned by three-fourths of the 
States, secures the colored man from re-enslavement, and this 
plan extends to him substantial freedom. 

Thus that question Avhich has disturbed the peace of the nation 
during my entire life will be fully settled. Then the republic can 
commence her career anew, freed from all her clogs. With the 
shades that dim her lights removed, she will stand forth before 
the world a guide to the nations, with power sufficient to com- 
mand the respect of men, and virtue sufficient to secure the ap- 
proval of the Divine Ruler. 



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